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Red Star Down

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE MOST TIMELY, PROPULSIVE SPY THRILLER OF THE YEAR, FOR FANS OF MOSCOW X, I AM PILGRIM and SLOW HORSES

An explosive conspiracy is on the verge of detonation.

A Korean man is poisoned in broad-daylight at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

A Russian intelligence officer is assassinated in a Washington hotel.

And a real-estate mogul has just become the 45th President of the United States.

The world teeters on the brink and three individuals find themselves caught up in the cross hairs:

Jenna, a seasoned CIA officer, whose past missions refuse to stay buried.

Lyosha, a student in Moscow who confronts Vladimir Putin on live TV only to suffer the consequences.

And Eric, a North Korean spy in the heart of the White House who adores the man he is working to undermine: the President.

In a world of shifting allegiances and betrayal, RED STAR DOWN is a global and gripping thriller that explores the intricate web of politics, espionage, and deception during of one of the most turbulent periods in recent history.

'Extraordinary...smart, sophisticated, suspenseful - and important.' LEE CHILD on STAR OF THE NORTH

© D. B. John 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025

Critics Review

A compelling and suspenseful thriller that kept me gripped throughout
AJAY CHOWDHURY
A richly satisfying thriller on an epic scale, magnificently conceived and brilliantly executed
ANDREW TAYLOR
Immensely enjoyable. A rich, epic thriller in the grand tradition ... This is exactly what a contemporary thriller should be: a gripping narrative with intriguing twists, vivid characters and well-drawn settings that is not merely very well researched about geopolitics but sheds new light on them too
JEREMY DUNS
A delightfully audacious spy story… a lot of fun to read, not least for John’s insight that for the three autocratic leaders [Trump, Putin, Kim Jong Un] politics has become…more about dynasty than democracy
The Times
[A] superb doorstep of a book, that weaves real-life characters and events with fictional ones in a clever, believable spy thriller
The Sun
[An] audacious geopolitical thriller
Sunday Times, *Books of the Year*
Author D. B. John
Narrator Jennifer J Kim, D. B. John
Duration 21 hours and 44 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781529909630
Format Audiobook
Publisher Random House
Genre Espionage and spy thriller, International relations, Political / legal thriller
Availability AU, GB, IE

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